DISEASES FOLLOWING PARTURITION. 219 



mentions the eversion of the womb as the possible result of the nec- 

 essary traction, and in cases in which those in the most distant part 

 of the horn of the womb can not be easily reached, he advises to attach 

 a cord to the membranes inside the vulva, letting it hang out behind, 

 and to cut off the membranes below the cord. Then, after two or 

 three days' delay, he extracts the remainder, now softened and easily 

 detached. If carefully conducted, so as not to tear the cotyledons of 

 the womb, the operation is eminently successful; the cow suffers little, 

 and the straining roused by the manipulations soon subsides. Keep- 

 ing in a quiet, dark place, or driving a short distance at a walking 

 pace, will serve to quiet these. When the membranes have been with- ' 

 drawn, the hand, half closed, may be used to draw out of the womb 

 the offensive liquid that has collected. If the case is a neglected one, 

 and the discharge is very offensive, the womb must be injected as for 

 leucorrhea. 



INFLAMMATION OF THE VAGINA (VAGINITIS). 



This may occur independently of inflammation of the womb, and 

 usually as the result of bruises, lacerations, or other injuries sustained 

 during calving. It will be shown by swelling of the lips of the vulva, 

 which, together with their lining membrane, become of a dark-red or 

 leaden hue, and the mucous discharge increases and becomes whitish 

 or purulent, and it may be fetid. Slight cases recover spontaneously, 

 or under warm fomentations or mild astringent injections (a teaspoon- 

 ful of carbolic acid in a quart of water), but severe cases may go on 

 to the formation of large sores (ulcers), or considerable portions of the 

 mucous membrane may die and slough off. Baumeister records two 

 cases of diphtheritic vaginitis, the second case in a cow four weeks 

 calved, contracted from the first in a newly calved cow. Both proved 

 fatal, with formation of false membranes as far as the interior of the 

 womb. In all severe cases the antiseptic injections must be applied 

 most assiduously. The carbolic acid may be increased to one-half 

 ounce to a quart, or chlorine water, or peroxide of hydrogen solution 

 may be injected at least three times a day. Hyposulphite of soda, 1 

 ounce to a quart of water, is an excellent application, and the same 

 amount may be given by the mouth. 



LEUCORRHEA (MUCOPURULENT DISCHARGE FROM THE PASSAGES). 



This is due to a continued or chronic inflammation of the womb, or 

 the vagina, or both. It usually results from injuries sustained in calv- 

 ing, or from irritation by putrid matters in connection with retained 

 afterbirth, or from the use of some object in the vagina (pessary) to 

 prevent eversion of the womb. Exposure to cold or other cause of 

 disturbance of the health may affect an organ so susceptible as this 

 at the time of parturition so as to cause inflammation. 



Symptoms. — The main symptom is the glairy white discharge flow- 



